R.J. Palacio – Author Biography
R.J. Palacio is the author of Wonder, the beloved novel about a boy with facial differences that has sold more than 5 million copies, inspired the global Choose Kind movement, and became a hit film. Before becoming a novelist, she spent two decades as one of publishing’s most accomplished book cover designers.
Early Life
Raquel Jaramillo Palacio was born on July 13, 1963, in New York City (Palacio was her mother’s maiden name). A first-generation American — her parents were Colombian immigrants — she attended the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan and majored in illustration at the Parsons School of Design, spending her junior year at the American University in Paris.
Career
Palacio built a distinguished career as an art director and graphic designer for major publishers, designing hundreds of book covers for authors including Paul Auster, Thomas Pynchon, and Salman Rushdie. She also wrote and illustrated children’s books under her birth name, Raquel Jaramillo. The idea for Wonder came from a real-life encounter: while out with her own young sons, they came across a girl with severe facial differences, and Palacio was struck by her children’s reaction and her own. Her debut novel Wonder was published in 2012 and has remained on the New York Times bestseller list ever since. The 2017 film adaptation starred Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. She expanded the Wonder universe with Auggie & Me (2015), 365 Days of Wonder, We’re All Wonders, and the graphic novel White Bird (2019), adapted into a 2024 film. Her first novel outside the Wonder universe, Pony, was published in 2021.
Major Works
Palacio’s major works are Wonder, Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories, White Bird, and Pony. Her books have won the Christopher Award and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award, among other honors.
Writing Style and Themes
Palacio writes with a designer’s clarity and a mother’s emotional precision. Wonder is narrated in multiple first-person voices, letting readers see Auggie Pullman through the eyes of his family, friends, and even his antagonists — a structure that embodies the book’s central lesson about perspective. Her great theme is kindness as a deliberate, courageous choice rather than a passive nicety. She writes about difference, bullying, and moral growth without preachiness, trusting young readers to handle complexity. Her prose is plain and warm, built for reading aloud.
Legacy
Wonder became more than a novel — it became a school curriculum staple and a kindness movement embraced by educators worldwide. Palacio proved that a middle-grade novel could carry profound moral weight while remaining a page-turner, and her unusual path from cover designer to bestselling novelist inspired late-blooming writers everywhere. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.
